"Womanhood Glorified": Nannie Helen Burroughs and the National Training School for Women and Girls, Inc., 1909-1961

Abstract

a song, full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun, of our new day begun. Let us march on 'till victory is won. These words from James Weldon Johnson's Lift Every Voice and Sing can be used to describe vividly African peoples' struggles to obtain literacy, equal access to schooling, and educational advancement in American society. Unlike the situation historically for other ethnic groups, African Americans have had to fight and struggle for the legal right and access to formal schooling. From the period of their legal enslavement in this country, African Americans have possessed a strong desire for education. From the lessons shared in the darkest of night in the midst of slave quarters to current generations of college graduates, African Americans have struggled to educate themselves and their children. (1) When examining the history of African American education, there are some names that are somewhat familiar, such as Fannie Jackson Coppin, Booker T. Washington, Lucy Craft Laney, Major Richard Robert Wright, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Laurence Clifton Jones, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Septima Poinsette Clark. Reference can be made to famous institutions in all parts of the country. Many of these institutions, however, were founded by white philanthropists and/or missionaries and educated black males and females, such as the Tuskegee Institute, Hampton Institute, and the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school examined in this essay, however, does not fit into either of these categories because it was founded by an African American woman, for African American women and girls, and initially it was funded completely by the African American community. This essay examines the National Training School for Women and Girls (later renamed the National Trade and Professional School for Women an d Girls), founded in 1909 by Nannie Helen Burroughs in Washington, DC. (2) This school educated African, African American, and Caribbean women from ages fifteen to adulthood in areas that would allow them to be independent women with a commitment to serve their God, their families, and their communities. (3) As a school founder, orator, and social and political activist, Nannie Helen Burroughs built a school for African American women and girls in Washington, DC, that produced well-trained women who were well qualified to compete in the work force. What made Burroughs' school unique? Among other things, it was not co-educational, it was not funded by any white benefactors, and it was not limited to training women and girls for the traditional 'female occupations. Burroughs wanted to train God-fearing women who would be self-sufficient and committed to the uplift of their race. The activities and accomplishments of educator Nannie Helen Burroughs have been often overlooked by historians examining the African American experience. Historian and feminist scholar Sharon Harley pointed out that although Burroughs was one of the best known and most respected figures among African Americans in the 20th century, she remains absent from most contemporary historical works. (4) However, more recently, Burroughs' efforts have not gone totally unnoticed, and several scholars have begun to document Burroughs' contributions to African American women's advancement, the National Baptist Convention, and the African American community in general. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, in her book Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920, described Burroughs leadership activities within her denomination, and Opal V. Easter assessed Burroughs work as an educator among adult African American women. (5) Karen A. Johnson's recent book Uplifting the Women and the Race focuses o n the social and political activism and educational philosophies of Nannie Helen Burroughs and Anna Julia Cooper. …